A Study On The Expansion Of Broadcasting Organizations’ Retransmission Rights

Neither the international protection system for broadcasting organizations,which is based on the Rome Convention,nor China’s current Copyright Law can control retransmission via the Internet.With the convergence of technologies,broadcasting is no longer confined to traditional platforms,and the development of streaming media technology has made it possible to achieve barrier-free streaming between radio and television,telephone and the Internet,laying the foundation for Internet broadcasting technology,which combines broadcasting and the Internet.At the same time,the piracy of broadcasting signals by using new technologies has also emerged in large numbers,and,unlike the protection of the rights of broadcasting organizations in the traditional context,the current international treaties and China’s current Copyright Law can no longer meet the interests of broadcasting organizations,which in the traditional sense suffer greatly from piracy.In addition to the introduction and concluding remarks,the paper consists of five sections:The first part introduces the origin and development of broadcasting organization system.The fourth information revolution gave birth to broadcasting technology and the germ of the broadcasting organization regime.Since then,the Rome Convention has provided a blueprint for the protection of broadcasting organizations in the international community.The Copyright Act of 1990 provided for the system of broadcasting organizations,but the scope of the rights of broadcasting organizations to retransmit broadcasts was not updated during the revision process,making it difficult to adapt to today’s technology.The second part discusses the challenges facing the current broadcasting organization retransmission rights system.With the rapid development of network technology,the development of Internet radio stations has become a prairie fire,and the retransmission rights of broadcasting organizations under China’s Copyright Law are unable to control emerging Internet broadcasting acts,while the infringement acts using new technology have become diversified and complicated,making judicial practice difficult.The broadcasting organization system faces challenges and is in urgent need of renewal.The third part begins with the(draft)WIPO Treaty on the Protection of Broadcasting Organizations,which is currently attracting much attention.Over the past two decades of treaty discussions,the definition and content of "retransmission" have changed,and the controversies among delegations have centered on when and how to retransmit.The study of the draft treaty would be of some help in improving China’s broadcasting rights.The fourth part,discusses the factors considered in the expansion of broadcasting rights of broadcasting organizations.The expansion of retransmission rights has been discussed and questioned in many ways.In addition to the reasons of technological progress,the deeper theoretical value of the expansion of retransmission rights is more justified.This chapter analyzes some factors of consideration for the expansion of retransmission rights in China from the principle of balance of interests,the incentive theory from a legal-economic perspective,and the development of China’s broadcasting market.The fifth part,return to the expansion of China’s retransmission rights system.The two review drafts of the 2020 Amendment(Draft)to the Copyright Law have made considerable changes to the rights of broadcasting organizations,some of which reflect the consensus of the academic community,but some of which are debatable.This chapter starts from the latest Amendment to the Copyright Law(Draft)and makes suggestions on the provisions of retransmission rights of broadcasting organizations in China,using the existing rights model as a framework: to expand the retransmission rights to the online environment,to delete the right of information network transmission as stipulated in the draft amendment;and to add the definition of "retransmission" to the Implementing Regulations of the Copyright Law,which will have a significant impact on the retransmission rights of broadcasting organizations in China.The scope of the control of the Convention is clarified.